North Carolina Man 'In Shock' After Lottery Win: 'Took A Minute To Set In'

A lucky lottery player in North Carolina is still in shock after scoring a huge jackpot win.

David Shafer, of Benson, recently purchased a 50X The Cash from the Country Mart on N.C. 242 North and ended up winning the Fast Play jackpot, according to a release from the NC Education Lottery. Because he got the $10 ticket, he got the full jackpot of $236,439. However, he didn't realize at first that he won.

"I saw the jackpot went down from over $200,000 to $20,000 so I figured somebody else just won," he said. "It took a minute to set in."

For the Johnston County man, the win was a long time coming.

"I always joked with people at stores that I want the ticket that will take me to Raleigh," he said, referring to tickets with prizes large enough to warrant a trip to lottery headquarters. "I'm still kind of in shock though."

The time finally came that he bought the lucky ticket that sent him to North Carolina's capital city. He arrived at lottery headquarters on Wednesday (October 25) to claim his prize, taking home a total of $168,466 after all required state and federal tax withholdings. According to lottery officials, he plans to put most of his prize in the bank.

"I never pictured winning something like this," he said. "I thought about it though."